Indigo League: A New Beginning
by SilverBear1992
Summary: A former Indigo League Champion accompanies his younger brother as he starts his own journey through the world of Pokémon. Along the way they catch up on lost time, meet new friends, and find new adversaries. This is set in a world parallel to the Manga and Game world, kinda all smushed together. Also feedback would be great!
1. Chapter 1

The weather was changing, putting an eerie chill to the air in Johto. A very spacious ranch is shown in the moonlight. Many Pokémon are sleeping under the stars whilst some are still active, playing games with one another. Only one room is lit in this big house, and a young man is sitting in his study looking over a photo and newspaper articles. In the photograph stands the young man with soulful blue eyes, short brown hair, and a well-trimmed beard alongside his six Pokémon. This young man is Bear, the former Pokémon League Champion of Kanto and Johto. After losing the title as league champion, Bear had quested to complete his Pokédex given to him by Professor Oak eight years prior.

The morning came early for Bear. His Umbreon, a black dog-like Pokémon with blue rings and yellow eyes, had awakened him due to the Pokégear ringing nonstop. After rolling out of bed and rubbing the sleep from his eyes Bear looks at the missed calls on his Pokégear. Two are from his mother back in Kanto and one is from Professor Oak. The messages remind him of the same thing; tomorrow is his younger brother's graduation from the Pokémon Academy founded by Red and Blue in Pallet town, and the day after that he sets out on his own journey. It seems that Bear doesn't get a moment of rest, because Professor Elm is now pounding on his front door. "Bear answer the door this is urgent," shouted Elm. Unlike Professor Oak of the Kanto region, Elm is a young, thin man with wire rimmed glasses and short brown hair and is easily excitable.  
Opening the door to an almost frantic Pokémon Professor is one thing, but the surprise in store for Bear is almost unimaginable. "Bear, the research that Professor Oak and I have accomplished on Pokémon and their breeding habits is astounding!" Elm exclaimed. "We also have evidence of prehistoric Pokémon breeding, therefore we predict that the 'Legendary' Pokémon also have to breed, or else they would become extinct as well. The reason these Pokémon are classified as 'Legendary' is due to the infrequent sightings of them."

"I understand this Prof. Elm, but I don't really see your point."

"You yourself have captured 'Legendary' Pokémon, Bear. Entei, Suicune, and Raikou presented themselves to you because of your abilities as a trainer. That is why I wish you to take these with you to Kanto when you leave for Ethan's graduation," pulling two Pokémon eggs, each about the size of a bowling ball, from a padded carrying case, "And give these to Professor Oak."

One egg is a beautiful fire orange with gold flames starting at the bottom and going to the top. The other is a pale blue with what appear to be silver waves around its mid-section. "Bear, these eggs are very important to our research. One was found on the beach of Cianwood City and the other near Ecruteak City, and we have no idea what Pokémon lies inside each egg. That is why Prof. Oak would like to take a look at them for himself, but he needs to be able to present the graduating trainers with their Pokémon and Pokédex."

"And that is the reason you tasked me with this?" interrupted Bear.

"I did not suggest this, Oak did" stated Elm.

"I guess I can't let Prof. Oak down," said Bear dejectedly, "He's part of the reason I have all of this." Walking over to a display case, Bear opens it and pulls out a Pokéball. Worn with age and faded it seems this lone Pokéball has been through a lot. "Elm, give me fifteen minutes an ill be ready to head out." says Bear as he walks outside and Elm soon follows him out. "Blaze come here!" shouts Bear, and soon after a rather large Charizard lands near him. This Charizard is different from most, instead of the red-orange color to the scales, this Charizard's is as black as coal.

"Is that a black Charizard?" Elm asks astounded.

"Yes, it is."

"Where did you get such a magnificent Pokémon?"

"From Prof. Oak, of course. Blaze was my first Pokémon. I grew up admiring Oak's grandson, Blue, and his Charizard and always wanted one." Bear said full of memories, "I made it my goal to be the top of my class so I got to choose first out of every one else. There were nine of us, and unfortunately I was at the bottom of the nine... I was for sure that the Charmanders were all taken, but when it came my turn there was one Pokéball left, and it had a Charmander that wasn't the normal color, it was lighter and I'm assuming that is why he was left."

"That doesn't explain why this Charizard turned out to be black instead of its normal color." Elm excitedly rambled.

Bear chuckled climbing on Blaze's back, "Elm, next time you talk to Professor Oak, ask him about his theory on 'shiny' Pokémon. That should clear things up for you. Now if you'll excuse me I'll be on my way to Pallet Town." With a gust of wind from Blaze's wings the duo became airborne. "I know you don't like flying long distances with me on your back, Blaze, but flying is the quickest way home."  
" _Home_... that's a place we haven't been for quite some time."

Shortly before noon, Bear lands in front of a quaint little house with tan siding and a red roof. His childhood home where he grew up with his brother and two sisters.

This house is located on a small acreage on the outskirts of Pallet Town. On the front porch sits Bear's mother, a woman in her forties of average build with emerald green eyes and raven hair, his younger brother, Ethan, a blond haired blue eyed young man with a more muscular build and slightly taller than Bear, and an old man with gray hair that could only be Prof. Oak.  
Dismounting from Blaze, Bear slowly walks up the steps.

I had been four years since he had been home. The feeling of past memories was almost too overwhelming. "Hi everyone..." was all Bear could utter.  
"Hello Bear, I wish you would have called ahead. If it wasn't for Prof. Oak, I would have never known you were coming."

"Shelly's right Bear" scolded Oak, "you did the same thing when you left on your journey."

"I'm sorry for not calling ahead, but I was just too excited about Elm's discovery." Bear forced out apologetically. Pulling the eggs one by one from his bag, Bear hands the blue and silver egg to Oak, who nearly drops it from astonishment. "That's the one from Cianwood City, and this beauty is from Ecruteak City," Bear nods to the gold flamed egg he's holding.

"They are quite remarkable, and I think I have decided just what to do with them, says Oak. "Elm's research has proven that Pokémon eggs hatch faster with human interaction. Bear, will you journey with your brother until these eggs hatch? You get to carry one and Ethan gets the other. But first, I think Ethan should introduce you to his starter Pokémon." The look of confusion on Bear's face allowed Oak to correct his mistake. "It's been a while since you attended the trainer's school. We start the children at twelve, like you did, only they have six years of nurturing and caring for their Pokémon before they are allowed to go on their journey. This cuts down on the number of new trainers abandoning their Pokémon." Satisfied with the answer Bear turns to his brother, "Alright lets she your friend."

Pulling out a shiny new Pokéball Ethan shouts, "Come on out, Torrent." Out pops a happy looking Squirtle. Only this Squirtle is a baby blue and has a green shell. "So, looks like baby brother has himself a 'shiny' Squirtle," says Bear with mild amusement. "Kinda following in my footsteps aren't we?"

"How did I know you were going to say something stupid like that? Ever since you won the championship I've always wanted to be like my big brother, but everyone always said that I was following in your footsteps when my journey has yet to begin," says Ethan almost complaining.

"Okay Mr. Smartass, I'll let you pick what egg you want to hatch," Bear challenges.  
"I want to battle, my Torrent against your Blaze, winner gets first pick... and I don't want you going easy on me."  
"I have a better idea, I'll use one of my other Pokémon as to keep it a little fairer. Go Rhyhorn!" Rhyhorn is a stocky slate colored Pokémon on all fours with a horn on its short snout. Noticing Ethan and Blaze's obvious disappointment Bear followed up with "Maybe you can battle Blaze later when he isn't tired from a long flight." Blaze seemed to approve of this idea by laying down near the porch and promptly falling asleep.

Walking about twenty-five yards from where his brother stood, Bear and his Ryhorn stop. "Your move Baby bro." Bear says jokingly.

"Alright Torrent, start off with a Bubble attack!" shouts Ethan, followed by a barrage of bubbles flying toward Rhyhorn.

"Rhyhorn, Protect followed by Thunderbolt!" the bubbles pop about three feet in front of Rhyhorn and a bolt of lightning shoots from Rhyhorn's horn and hits Torrent throwing the small Pokémon back and causing him to faint.

"That was so unfair," exclaimed the boys' mother. "Mom, I was preparing him for the battles ahead, even if he faced Blaze he wouldn't have won."  
"Still this was your brother's first battle with Torrent, you could have humored..."  
"It's okay, Mom," interrupts Ethan, "The real issue is to make sure Torrent is alright and get him healed."  
"That's very mature of you," says Prof. Oak, "But I think Ethan should take the blue and silver egg, and Bear should take the orange and gold egg. Ethan has a strong connection already with his Squirtle and Bear obviously has a strong connection with his Charizard. The pattern on each egg represents Water and Fire, and that is how I made my decision."

"Alright let's just spend the rest of the day preparing for our journey tomorrow, I'll help you pack." said Bear grabbing Ethan by the sleeve and putting a Potion in his hand, "But use this on your Squirtle."

"Just wait until Dad get home he's going to love hearing about how you kicked my butt in my first battle," chuckled Ethan.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Route 1**

* * *

Morning came to find Bear waking up early on the floor in his old room. His mother had left it the way he had even after eight years, and he doesn't quite fit into his bed anymore. Looking at the clock on his desk, 6:30AM. "I haven't been up this early in quite a while," thought Bear. Throwing on clothes and grabbing his belt with his four Pokéballs on it, Bear quietly opens up his door and sneaks downstairs to get some breakfast. Upon reaching the kitchen, Bear sees his brother sitting at the table.

"Morning squirt...Sorry about owning your Squirtle yesterday. I thought they'd have taught you something in that fancy school you went to."

"Morning fucktard...And they did, but they forgot to mention that Rhyhorn can use electric attacks." Ethan said bitterly "Where did your Rhyhorn learn thunderbolt anyway?"

"I probably shouldn't tell you this," said Bear sitting down at the table across from his brother "But I learned this from Brock, he has a Rhydon that can use thunderbolt and thunder."

Bear watched as the dark shadow of defeat flushed his baby brother's face. "How am I supposed to beat the first gym of the Indigo League if he's got such powerful Pokémon?" squalled Ethan.

"He only uses a specific Geodude and Onix for gym battles, but, like most gym leaders, he'll accept challengers who have already defeated his gym and battle with his stronger Pokémon. By the way when is this fancy graduation of yours?"

"It's at eight, so we should probably get mom, dad, and the girls up and get ready to head out to Oak's lab."

Later at Oak's Lab, Ethan stood on the stage with eleven other trainers. Six boys and six girls all starting the journey together. One by one they each got a Pokédex, a map, and a set of ten empty Pokéballs to use on their journey. After the ceremony the parents wished their children luck and waved them off into the world.

"Alright bro lets head off towards your first gym." said Bear.

"Where do we go first?" asked Ethan.

"Let's go to Route 1 to Viridian City and see if we can't get you a couple more Pokémon along the way!" Bear said proudly. Setting off only to get about a quarter mile before something stopped the brothers.

"Not so fast!" called out a very confident voice. "I want to challenge the washed up champ to prove how strong I am!"

Turning around Bear and Ethan saw a boy with shaggy red hair, wearing an overly large backpack with his tan shorts and blue shirt.

"I usually accept all challengers, but I'm afraid I'll just wipe the floor with you and no one wants to see that." Bear exclaimed a tad irritated.

"You're just scared you'll lose to a beginner trainer. Quit being a wuss and accept my challenge!" the voice nagged again.

"Don't pay Brice any attention, he's just a know-it-all asshole who thinks he's the best there is." mumbled Ethan so only Bear could hear him.

"That's okay my Pokémon and I will put him in his place." whispered Bear.

"Alright I accept your challenge, and I'm even going to let you randomly pick a Pokéball and I will battle with that Pokémon." Bear said to Brice taking five Pokéballs off of his belt.

"I pick this one." Price said pointing to the third ball.

"Okay you asked for it... come on out Umbreon." Bear said with a grin. "And I'll be fighting your Charmander is that correct Brice?"

"Yeah that's correct, now come on out Charmander!"  
In a flash of light a small orange lizard with big green eyes and an orange and yellow flame on the tip of its tail is standing ready for battle opposite the black doglike Pokémon with yellow eyes and light blue rings on its head, ears, and tail.

"I'll allow you to make the first move since you are the challenger, Brice."

"Okay then Charmander use Scratch."  
As Charmander runs in to scratch Umbreon, Bear commands "Dodge and follow up with Sand Attack." As commanded Umbreon dodged to the left and kicked up dirt at Charmander, hitting it right in the face blurring its vision.  
"Now while Charmander's blinded, hit it with a Shadow Ball." On command Umbreon loosed a ball of purple and black energy knocking Charmander out.

"I told you it would be a loss Brice, now go back to Oak's and get your Charmander healed. And if you wanted a decent battle you should have challenged Ethan and actually had a battle that didn't last one futile attempt to use an attack that didn't land." Bear scolded.

"I didn't want to fight your stupid Umbreon anyway I wanted to fight your Charizard, but I followed the conditions..." Brice whined before being cut off by Ethan."You wanted your Charmander to fight Blaze? Are you insane? Blaze would have literally flown circles around your Charmander while lobbing fire attacks at it."Ethan said with disbelief.

"If it's a fight you want next time I run into you drips I'll beat the both of you" Brice said with rage before stomping off.

"Now that that's over let's go find you some more Pokémon," Bear directed at Ethan.

As the brothers walked down the lightly warn path of Route 1, they pass the other graduates in heated battles with the purple mouse Rattata, Pidgey, the small brown bird Pokémon, and Spearow, another tiny brown bird Pokémon. The tall green grass rustling in the breeze with a few trees poking up here and there. Pidgey sitting too close to the path take off one by one only to land a few hundred yards away in the grass.

"How am I supposed to catch a Pokémon if they run away and I can't find them," Ethan complained.

"Just wait a little bit longer, with all the trainers coming through today they're just spooky is all." Bear said to calm his brother, "Besides I know a few secret spots where we're going to catch you a couple very special Pokémon."

As the day progressed, the brothers walked north until they were under the cover of a sparse forest at the foot of a small mountain. Upon coming to a clearing the duo stopped for a quick lunch followed by a quick training exercise with Ethan's Squirtle.

"Now that lunch is over I'm going to try to teach you something useful for future battles, "Bear said with a smirk. "Alright baby bro, I want you to take out your Pokédex and place Torrent's Pokéball on the slide out tray. As they probably taught you, this is how you look at what moves your Pokémon knows and what level it is. But, what they probably didn't tell you is that you can also see what moves your Pokémon are capable of learning. Now for a Squirtle, the next non water type move that would be easy to learn is Ice Beam. Now I'm going to introduce you to one of my newest Pokémon."

In a ray of light a blue four legged Pokémon appeared.

"This is Glaceon, Eevee's ice evolution. I call her Frost."

"Can I call time-out real quick? You're going too fast like you always do Bear."

"Sorry baby bro, you know that's my weakness. I'm always thinking faster than I can speak. So, what is it you don't understand?"

"I hate to be a bother, but why would Ice Beam be a critical move for Torrent to learn?" asked Ethan quizzically.

"As they probably taught you, type advantage is important. You're going to need it to easily capture this Pokémon I'm taking you to. Also you're going to need an advantage over trainers who chose Bulbasaur as their starter," Bear quickly explained.

The hours passed and soon it began to get dark. Teaching Torrent Ice Beam was a big task that required both the Pokémon and trainers to rest multiple times. Eventually ending up with Torrent learning the move. Setting up camp for the night went quickly with two people.

"This is a beautiful night, and camp goes faster with a full team of Pokémon and two people to set up," laughed Bear recalling his first night,"This is much better than my first night. I spent all day trying to catch a Pidgey, of course your stubborn brother wanted the biggest and strongest one. It took me a day and a half to catch one Pokémon. And it rained on top of it."

After a moment of silence Ethan spoke, "Yea, I remember that night well, you left and I had my own room at last. But I missed you even though I never wanted to admit it"

"I missed you too bud, and I think this co-op journey will make up for lost time," Bear smiled, "Now, let's eat and get some sleep, you've got a big battle tomorrow."

Early in the morning, Bear awakes to the sound of fluttering and an Ice Beam attack being launched followed by the unmistakable *ping* of a Pokéball catching a Pokémon.

"Ethan must be training early and he must have caught a Pidgey," Bear thought to himself.  
Smiling, Bear rolls over and goes back to sleep. Only to be woken a short while later by an angry female voice.

"I don't want to battle a worthless punk like you I want to know where Bear is so I can defeat him," shouts the unknown female.

"No, I'm not getting passed up. You should be battling people with your own skill. Just because you were the top of the class doesn't mean Bear won't wipe the floor with you. And seriously Ivy, you expect to fight his Charizard with the Bulbasaur you chose? You are close to suicidal at this point."

Bear smiles as he realizes how grown up his brother is.

"Fine, I'll just defeat you and have Pokémon left to challenge your brother. Your little Squirtle won't stand a chance against my Ivysaur."

Bear quickly scrambles out of his tent in time to slow the battle.  
"Alright now that I'm up, I'll be the referee. Ivy how may Pokémon do you have?"

"I have three," Ivy said smugly, "I bet you haven't caught anything!"

"I have two Pokémon," Ethan says a tinge of emotion in his voice.

"So do we want a one-on-one with two Pokémon, or just a one-on-one single Pokémon? Ivy as the challenger you can decide."

"I want a single Pokémon battle. Then I'm coming after you!" screams Ivy.

"Alright choose your Pokémon."

"I'm choosing Torrent," says Ethan with more reassurance in his voice.

"Alright then I'm going to destroy you quickly with Ivysaur," Ivy said even more smugly than before.

In a glow of white light a green four legged dinosaur looking creature with a pink flower on its back appears.

"Before we begin I must commend you on working with your Ivysaur to make it evolve so quickly after starting your journey."

"That's because my Ivysaur is much better than your Charizard and your brother's puny Squirtle," gloated Ivy.

"Okay, let's get this battle over with. Ethan call the coin flip in the air."

"Tails."

"Alright and it's heads, Ivy, you make the first move."

"Ivysaur use vine whip!"  
As commanded Ivysaur loosed two vines from its back and launched them towards Torrent.

"Torrent dodge and then use Ice Beam aimed at Ivysaur's feet."  
Torrent jumped to the right missing the vines by inches and then shoots a pale blue beam of light at Ivysaur's feet.

"Quick Ivysaur jump and dodge it."  
Ivysaur uses its vines to launch itself about ten feet in the air, but the Ice Beam has accomplished what it was intended to do. A sheet of ice now cover's Ivysaur's half of the field and the strategic genius of Ethan is now shown. But to Bear it is somewhat familiar. As Ivysaur lands, it slips on the ice and cannot get a stable footing to launch attacks accurately.

"Alright Torrent, launch repeated Ice Beams at Ivysaur. And Ivy before you start running your mouth about how my Pokémon are weak and my brother's Pokémon are weak, remember I have learned so much about Pokémon training by watching him and listening to his advice." Ethan said triumphantly.

The first five Ice Beams hit dead on causing Ivysaur to faint, but this also tired out Torrent and it collapsed shortly after the battle was decided.

"You cheated somehow. How did your Squirtle learn Ice Beam?" shrieked Ivy.

"Like I said I learned it from Bear. Or rather his Glaceon taught my Squirtle. While you were out grinding your Pokémon for sheer force I was training mine with intelligence. That is how I caught my Pidgeotto. I'll gladly heal your Ivysaur so you can battle Bear now." chimed Ethan with a smirk.

"I'll pass on that, but next time we meet I'm going to defeat both of you." Ivy snarled as she stormed off.

A few minutes passed before the rush of winning his first battle left Ethan. Once the moment had passed Bear healed Torrent, and set to work tearing down their campsite.

"That made for an Interesting morning, didn't it," Bear calmly said.

"Yea it did. I didn't want to wake you, but it looks like that didn't happen," Ethan said solemnly.

"I'm proud of you, asserting yourself like that and even catching another Pokémon while your big brother slept. But for now let's get packed up and head off for the lake it should just be a couple hours more of walking."


End file.
